Attraction to transgender people

"Transfan" redirects here. For the use of "transfan" to describe fans of the Transformers, see Transformers (toy line).

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Attraction to transgender people is romantic or sexual attraction toward transgender people. Attraction to transgender people can be toward trans men, trans women, non-binary people, or a combination of these. This attraction can be a person's occasional, preferred, primary, or exclusive interest.

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There are a variety of terms, inside both the transgender and academic communities, for people who are attracted to transgender people. These terms include admirer, transfan, tammyfan, trans* catcher, trans* erotic, transsensual, tranny chaser, tranny hawk,[1] though the final two may be considered offensive as they contain a slur. In Brazil, people (generally cis men) attracted to transfeminine people in general or specifically to travestis are often known as T-lovers,[2] but this term is generally not applied to those attracted to transmasculine or other genderqueer people. Over time, it developed a connotation of undesirable experimenters and fetishists rather than less objectifying general lovers and romantic partners, what attracts criticism from local transgender people (in said new connotation, it is applied to all who objectify transgender people, irrespective of gender identity).

The term tranny chaser was originally (and still predominantly) used to describe men sexually interested in visibly trans women, but it is now used by some trans men as well. Transgender people often use the term in a pejorative sense, because they consider chasers to value them for their trans status alone, rather than being attracted to them as a person.[3] However, some claim this term in an affirming manner.[4] The term tranny (or trannie) is itself considered a slur in many circles.[5][6]

Less pejorative terms such as transamorous and transsensual have also emerged, but they have not seen much usage.[3]

Sexologists have created numerous terms for preferential attraction to transgender people. John Money and Malgorzata Lamacz proposed the term gynemimetophilia to refer to a sexual preference for male-assigned people who look like, act like, or are women, including crossdressed men and trans women. They also proposed the term andromimetophilia to describe a sexual attraction to female-assigned people who look like, act like, or are men.[7]

In Diary of a Drag Queen, Daniel Harris describes four types of men interested in him while he was cross-dressed: heterosexual men who wanted the presumed superior oral services of another male, homosexuals who were only interested in his genitals, other cross dressers, and men who were intrigued by the mixture of masculinity and femininity he represented. Relatively little has been written about the sexual preference for feminized men. When describing what makes them feel sexually attracted, different people refer to different aspects. One aspect of the appeal has been reported to be their exoticism. Also, "they are often both hyperfeminine in appearance and sexual aggressive".[10] There is a tendency for gynandromorphophilic men to describe being attracted to individual people who are transgender rather than to transgender people overall. Other tendencies are reported description of being attracted to what transgender women represent (a challenge to the traditional male/female dichotomy) and the explicit focus on the transgender body and appearance: "I like women with dicks. I like tits and I like dicks....Something erotic about getting fucked by someone who is a woman."[11]

According to Helen Boyd, "Tranny chasers are the big bugaboo in the crossdressing community, because their very existence suggests that crossdressers are not all as straight as they claim to be. Chasers are willing to give crossdressed men the kind of attention they desire, and that attention (a drink, a compliment) validates the crossdresser's experience, and completes the fantasy of feeling like a woman."[12] According to Jeffrey Escoffier of the Centre for Gay and Lesbian Studies of CUNY, sexual interest in male-to-female transsexuals first emerged in 1953, associated with the then famous transition of Christine Jorgensen.[10] It was after expressing transsexualism via surgery became more feasible over the 1960s that sexual orientation came to be re-conceptualized as distinct from gender identity and cross-dressing. In a survey of men who engage in sex with male-to-female transsexuals, 73% identified their sexual identity as straight or bisexual.[11] It is because gynandromorphophiles can identify with any of those terms, HIV prevention efforts and research ought not overly depend on those identities.

Erotic materials created for people attracted to trans men have become more visible in recent years, largely due to pornographic actor Buck Angel.[13]Jamison Green writes that cisgender gay men often enjoy sexual relations with trans men. Green writes, "Plenty of penis-less transmen [...] engage in sex with penis-equipped gay men [...] and these non-trans partners are often surprised to find that a penis is not what defines a man, that the lack of a penis does not mean a lack of masculinity, manliness, or male sexuality."[14]

Some academics characterize attraction to transgender people as a medical diagnosis to be managed[15] or a type of paraphilia.[16] Others state that stigma against attractions to transgender people can erase transgender identities and deny transgender sexualities, and argue that such attractions should be destigmatized.[3]